Yea I went to Home Depot last night and bought a 50 pound bag for $2, and it looks nothing like that. I wasted $2. Oh well..

JouteiMike

11-06-2007 07:30 PM

No waste there...why not just use the play-sand?

fish_4_all

11-07-2007 12:56 PM

Not a waste, the play sand is the one most often used for ease and looks.

And just to let you know, that setup looks like a lot of them I have seen that are "show tanks" and not actually maintained looking like that. I guess it could be done but getting a mound to stay in place like that could be extremely difficult. But please post pictures if you manage to replicate it in a working aquarium. The play sand could be mixed with regular small river run gravel to get the look.

tophat665

11-11-2007 03:16 PM

Keeping a mounded Aquascape like that is a real pain in the fundament. You have to be really sharp with your hardscape: Make sure that the edges are entirely blocked up with rocks, and put vertical slates in the mounded substrate to make it harder for it to subside, then plant the bejeezus out of it with plants that have good root systems and lots of runners. The other thing is you can't put any fish in there that dig in the substrate. I have a lovely tank that had a nice white mount in the middle, and loaches scattered it all over the place.

You'll also need to move the substrate that does subside back up to the top of the mound on a regular basis.